Google thinks the grid can't support AI, so it's spending on solar for future datacenters
(2024/12/12)
- Reference: 1734017586
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/12/12/google_solar_energy_datacenter/
- Source link:
Google believes the US electricity grid can't deliver the energy needed to power datacenters that deliver AI services, so has formed an alliance to build industrial parks powered by clean energy, at which it will build "gigawatts of datacenter capacity" across the nation.
The search megalith [1]announced its plan on Wednesday. Google president Ruth Porat wrote that the US is poised to enjoy strong economic growth thanks to AI, increased manufacturing activity, and the electrification of transport and other industries. But Porat thinks those opportunities could be missed due to the wonky electricity grid, which she wrote has "not kept pace with the country's economic growth opportunity" and is sometimes "unable to accommodate load increases."
Google's response is a deal with solar energy firm Intersect Power, and financier TPG Rise Climate, to build industrial parks next to renewable energy generation facilities that Porat wrote will be "purpose-built and right-sized for the datacenter." Google will build datacenters at those parks – meaning they have a long-term customer from day one – and believes it can build bit barns faster under this arrangement.
[2]
Intersect Power [3]agrees with that analysis, describing the deal as a "'power-first' approach to datacenter development."
[4]
[5]
The generation plants Intersect Energy builds will also be connected to the grid, and provide power to other tenants of the industrial parks.
Intersect Power's [6]portfolio consists of 2.2GW of operating solar PV and accompanying battery storage in operation or construction.
[7]
Intersect doesn't appear to have any wind investments. It previously [8]sold a 1.7GW bundle of renewable energy generation in California and Texas to SoftBank – all of which involved solar power.
Google and TPG are investing $800 million into Intersect to fund the deal. Intersect noted in its press release announcing the partnership that the first co-located clean energy project with Google is slated to come online in 2026.
Where that facility will be located is anyone's guess – Google told us that it didn't have anything else to share about the news beyond what has been revealed in press releases, but would share details on specific projects "soon."
[9]
Intersect Power didn't respond to requests for comment.
Google's year of green continues
Despite Google's admission that its CO 2 emissions [10]rose 13 percent between 2022 and 2023, Google maintains AI is not the reason for the increase as it remains a small fraction of its datacenter workloads.
The search giant has made several renewable and low-carbon energy investments this year – the Intersect deal is just the latest it's announced. All its programs, a Google spokesperson told us, fulfill the biz's "overall focus [on identifying] structures and pathways to power generation that add carbon-free resources to the grid to meet growing load with new capacity."
In June 2024 the big G announced a deal with Nevada-based NV Energy to [11]use geothermal power for its datacenters in the state. That transaction also saw Google sign a Clean Transition Tariff (CTT) – a deal that requires energy customers with a minimum monthly load of 5MW (eg, Google) to cover the costs of new clean energy projects by paying a premium over what they'd be charged for energy drawn elsewhere from the grid, essentially funding the cost of new projects.
The Chocolate Factory believes CTTs will improve on its previous efforts to source renewable energy.
"The customer gets fixed-price power and ownership of the environmental attributes of the power procured, which enables Google to meet its voluntary corporate clean energy commitments," noted a [12]report on CTTs from Columbia Law School.
There is one catch here: Getting CTTs approved in Nevada requires the blessing of the state's Public Utilities Commission. Despite the application being lodged months ago, the PUC is yet to approve the deal.
Regulators' opinions on the deal are unclear, and according to a [13]document [PDF] filed last week by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the hearing isn't scheduled to take place until late May. Regulatory niceties mean approval for CTTs might not be official until sometime in June or July, we're told.
[14]AI's power trip will leave energy grids begging for mercy by 2027
[15]Day after nuclear power vow, Meta announces largest-ever datacenter powered by fossil fuels
[16]Energy exec punts datacenter power options out to long term
[17]Investors just can't pull the plug despite datacenters facing AI power crunch
Google also signed a deal with Kairos Power in October to [18]outfit future datacenters with small modular reactors (SMRs), making it just one of many tech giants turning to nuclear power to feed its facilities. As we've noted in multiple stories of late, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others are [19]investing heavily in the power of the atom to power future datacenters.
Kairos hasn't built a working reactor molten salt SMR yet, and only has plans to get a test facility up and running by 2030. There aren't even many SMRs in the world – China, Russia, and Japan each host one functional unit, despite several groups working on other designs.
And let's not get started on the [20]scarcity of the fuel needed to power such reactors: high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) that powers SMRs and other next-gen nuclear reactors is only produced at scale in China and Russia, and [21]the US can only move so fast to commercialize domestic production.
While it waits, Google has poured additional cash into [22]carbon capture technology to offset its greenhouse gas emissions – but the direct air capture provider behind it may not be able to scale up until the 2030s.
This deal with Intersect appears to be capable of providing clean juice without needing new technology to be developed. ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://blog.google/inside-google/infrastructure/new-approach-to-data-center-and-clean-energy-growth/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.intersectpower.com/intersect-power-forms-strategic-partnership-with-google-and-tpg-rise-climate-to-co-locate-data-center-load-and-clean-power-generation/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.intersectpower.com/portfolio/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sb-energy-and-intersect-power-partner-on-1-7-gw-of-us-solar-projects-300949311.html
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/18/google_emissions/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/13/google_geothermal_datacenters/
[12] https://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2024/10/29/guest-blog-powering-data-centers-with-clean-energy-googles-clean-transition-tariff/
[13] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/12/11/google-nv-power-hearing-schedule.pdf
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/13/datacenter_energy_consumption/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/05/meta_largestever_datacenter/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/25/schneider_exec_dc_power/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/27/investor_datacenter_energy_concern/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/15/google_kairos_smr_nuclear_investment/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/18/big_tech_nuclear_power/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/11/terrapower_nuclear_plant/
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/08/does_awards_nextgen_nuclear_fuel/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/11/google_carbon_removal_credits/
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The search megalith [1]announced its plan on Wednesday. Google president Ruth Porat wrote that the US is poised to enjoy strong economic growth thanks to AI, increased manufacturing activity, and the electrification of transport and other industries. But Porat thinks those opportunities could be missed due to the wonky electricity grid, which she wrote has "not kept pace with the country's economic growth opportunity" and is sometimes "unable to accommodate load increases."
Google's response is a deal with solar energy firm Intersect Power, and financier TPG Rise Climate, to build industrial parks next to renewable energy generation facilities that Porat wrote will be "purpose-built and right-sized for the datacenter." Google will build datacenters at those parks – meaning they have a long-term customer from day one – and believes it can build bit barns faster under this arrangement.
[2]
Intersect Power [3]agrees with that analysis, describing the deal as a "'power-first' approach to datacenter development."
[4]
[5]
The generation plants Intersect Energy builds will also be connected to the grid, and provide power to other tenants of the industrial parks.
Intersect Power's [6]portfolio consists of 2.2GW of operating solar PV and accompanying battery storage in operation or construction.
[7]
Intersect doesn't appear to have any wind investments. It previously [8]sold a 1.7GW bundle of renewable energy generation in California and Texas to SoftBank – all of which involved solar power.
Google and TPG are investing $800 million into Intersect to fund the deal. Intersect noted in its press release announcing the partnership that the first co-located clean energy project with Google is slated to come online in 2026.
Where that facility will be located is anyone's guess – Google told us that it didn't have anything else to share about the news beyond what has been revealed in press releases, but would share details on specific projects "soon."
[9]
Intersect Power didn't respond to requests for comment.
Google's year of green continues
Despite Google's admission that its CO 2 emissions [10]rose 13 percent between 2022 and 2023, Google maintains AI is not the reason for the increase as it remains a small fraction of its datacenter workloads.
The search giant has made several renewable and low-carbon energy investments this year – the Intersect deal is just the latest it's announced. All its programs, a Google spokesperson told us, fulfill the biz's "overall focus [on identifying] structures and pathways to power generation that add carbon-free resources to the grid to meet growing load with new capacity."
In June 2024 the big G announced a deal with Nevada-based NV Energy to [11]use geothermal power for its datacenters in the state. That transaction also saw Google sign a Clean Transition Tariff (CTT) – a deal that requires energy customers with a minimum monthly load of 5MW (eg, Google) to cover the costs of new clean energy projects by paying a premium over what they'd be charged for energy drawn elsewhere from the grid, essentially funding the cost of new projects.
The Chocolate Factory believes CTTs will improve on its previous efforts to source renewable energy.
"The customer gets fixed-price power and ownership of the environmental attributes of the power procured, which enables Google to meet its voluntary corporate clean energy commitments," noted a [12]report on CTTs from Columbia Law School.
There is one catch here: Getting CTTs approved in Nevada requires the blessing of the state's Public Utilities Commission. Despite the application being lodged months ago, the PUC is yet to approve the deal.
Regulators' opinions on the deal are unclear, and according to a [13]document [PDF] filed last week by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the hearing isn't scheduled to take place until late May. Regulatory niceties mean approval for CTTs might not be official until sometime in June or July, we're told.
[14]AI's power trip will leave energy grids begging for mercy by 2027
[15]Day after nuclear power vow, Meta announces largest-ever datacenter powered by fossil fuels
[16]Energy exec punts datacenter power options out to long term
[17]Investors just can't pull the plug despite datacenters facing AI power crunch
Google also signed a deal with Kairos Power in October to [18]outfit future datacenters with small modular reactors (SMRs), making it just one of many tech giants turning to nuclear power to feed its facilities. As we've noted in multiple stories of late, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others are [19]investing heavily in the power of the atom to power future datacenters.
Kairos hasn't built a working reactor molten salt SMR yet, and only has plans to get a test facility up and running by 2030. There aren't even many SMRs in the world – China, Russia, and Japan each host one functional unit, despite several groups working on other designs.
And let's not get started on the [20]scarcity of the fuel needed to power such reactors: high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) that powers SMRs and other next-gen nuclear reactors is only produced at scale in China and Russia, and [21]the US can only move so fast to commercialize domestic production.
While it waits, Google has poured additional cash into [22]carbon capture technology to offset its greenhouse gas emissions – but the direct air capture provider behind it may not be able to scale up until the 2030s.
This deal with Intersect appears to be capable of providing clean juice without needing new technology to be developed. ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://blog.google/inside-google/infrastructure/new-approach-to-data-center-and-clean-energy-growth/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.intersectpower.com/intersect-power-forms-strategic-partnership-with-google-and-tpg-rise-climate-to-co-locate-data-center-load-and-clean-power-generation/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.intersectpower.com/portfolio/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sb-energy-and-intersect-power-partner-on-1-7-gw-of-us-solar-projects-300949311.html
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z1sWsnKFsntpXb-3spzxBgAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/18/google_emissions/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/13/google_geothermal_datacenters/
[12] https://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2024/10/29/guest-blog-powering-data-centers-with-clean-energy-googles-clean-transition-tariff/
[13] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/12/11/google-nv-power-hearing-schedule.pdf
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/13/datacenter_energy_consumption/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/05/meta_largestever_datacenter/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/25/schneider_exec_dc_power/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/27/investor_datacenter_energy_concern/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/15/google_kairos_smr_nuclear_investment/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/18/big_tech_nuclear_power/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/11/terrapower_nuclear_plant/
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/08/does_awards_nextgen_nuclear_fuel/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/11/google_carbon_removal_credits/
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
" the US is poised to enjoy strong economic growth thanks to AI"...
Mentat74
As more and more people fall victim to the scam you call 'A.I.' you mean...
Nice idea for the daytime
JimmyPage
presumably they will shut the data centres at night ?
Re: Nice idea for the daytime
John Robson
Absolutely, because no-one has ever thought about that issue at any point in the past.
I mean, it's so obvious now you say it. There can't possibly be any options that would allow them to continue operations in the entirely unpredictable event of a so called "night".
Re: Nice idea for the daytime
codejunky
@John Robson
"There can't possibly be any options that would allow them to continue operations in the entirely unpredictable event of a so called "night"."
I think it is the omission of these options which makes the article that little bit extra interesting. Almost like they are suggesting batteries for the hours of darkness (which is not going to be cheap nor realistic I expect).
Doctor Syntax
Computing used to be measured in the number of computations per second, the storage available or the number of bits in and out of a data centre. In other words, its output. Now it seems to be measured in the power consumed, its inputs. Is this because the output is so pointless it's not worth measuring?
John Robson
I like the theory - but I think it's simpler: power is now the limiting factor, which hasn't always been true.
You still blatantly get an upvote for pointing out that there is no useful output for a lot of this crap.
Large areas
Primus Secundus Tertius
Raw sunlight is rated at about 1.4KW per square metre. So electricity output from a solar cell will be about 100W per square metre. A gigawatt will require 10,000,000 square metres; say 3,000 by 3,000. More than that when you allow units to be spaced out so maintenance, e.g. dusting, can be done.
So a lot of cabling required within the power station, presumably located in one of the US deserts; and a lot of cable back to a US city.
Nice in theory but the risk of crowding out remains
The model of paying upfront for the buildout of new capacity is a good idea because it allows cash-rich companies to do something with their cash other than keep it in the bank, buy back shares, pay dividends or get involved in even more risky startups. And any kind of power plant is capital intensive. The idea of dedicated power plants is also good, because it can reduce risk from the grid by not adding to the potential total peak load.
However, the effects can be the same as everyone and their dog seeks to add renewable capacity and compete for scarce resources, usually the technicians required to build and manage the facility, but could also include sites. Some of the recent deals have seen utilities sign deals to guarantee power for certain customers, potentially increasing the risk of blackouts for others. Forcing data centre operators to have their own power supply can help here but not if it means that the utilities are unable to raise the finance for their own plans, or keep the engineers to do the work. So, some kind of agreement with local regulator is essential. But when I look back at the history of US power regulators I'm not very hopeful that regulatory capture won't be one of the first victims.